From slashfilm, Steven Spielberg’s JAWS was released in movie theaters thirty five years ago today, on June 20th 1975. At the time, movies were released slowly, in a few theaters in major cities. As word of mouth spread, distributors would expand the release to more and more markets. Jaws was the first film to have a “wide release”, opening at the same time across the country, which at the time ment a whopping 464 theaters on opening night, with a national marketing campaign.
Jaws grossed more than $7 million that weekend, and went on to gross more than $470 million worldwide — the highest grossing film of the time (knocked off the top spot when Star Wars was released two years later). At a time when a the average movie ticket price was only $2.05, that means that over 250 million tickets were sold. To give you an idea, Pixar’s largest grossing film to date Finding Nemo grossed $867.9 million worldwide in 2003, at a time before 3D when the average movie ticket was still $6, and even then, something like 145 million tickets were sold. If adjusted for ticket inflation, Jaw’s worldwide box office total would be near $2 billion.
The reason why Box Office is significant is that Jaws gave birth to the Blockbuster, and is considered one of the first “high concept” films. But not only was it a high concept blockbuster, it was critically acclaimed. The film currently holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And unless Armond White begins reviewing older classic films (god, I hope that never happens), it is likely to stay that way.
10 comments:
I saw this when it came out and my friend was so scared at one point she dug her nails into my arm and drew blood. I left the theater looking like I got bit.
One of my all time favorite movies. And one I will always watch until the end when I stumble across it on TBS.
I admit I have some trouble understanding what the big deal is (beyond the novelty of the world encountering the Spielberg summer blockbuster for the first time). The next two Spielbergs are Close Encounters and then Raiders followed by ET, all three of which are vastly superior to Jaws as well as legitimate Spielberg projects where he was more than a hired-hand director.
Also, close the beaches! It's incredible that this movie gets away with showing a beach community that's attacked by a shark and doesn't do anything about it, because of 1970s political fuckery and no other reason. It's more implausible than the aliens in Close Encounters, for Christ's sake! You guys understand coastlines...the second they found that first corpse, no more swimming anywhere until further notice. But somehow Spielberg makes you buy it when they leave the beaches open. (There would be a multi-billion-dollar class action suit and a Federal investigation, at the very least.)
Also, it's interesting that John Williams gets so much Jaws attention...for two notes. He's so good that I'll find myself with the damn Born on the Fourth of July themes running in my head...even Padme's theme is stunning...and for Jaws I'm supposed to be impressed with two notes.
Also, Richard Dreyfus is such a spaz in this, you want to punch him. It's from the days when guys like him would get angry at other men and yell, "TURKEY!"
Also, it would be nice if my responses to Octopunks remarks here and here got some eyeballs. (Yes, I'm trolling for my own comments.)
Wow, a JAWS hater.
"this movie gets away with showing a beach community that's attacked by a shark and doesn't do anything about it," Today this wouldn't tolerated for one minute but it's possible that 35 years ago people thought/behaved differently. I can't provide proof of this but I imagine people were more accepting of the ridiculous decision to leave the beach open than they would be now.
"it's interesting that John Williams gets so much Jaws attention...for two notes." Yeah but they're two very effective notes. In horror the simple scores seem to be the most frightening like the violins in Bernard Herrmann's chilling notes for Psycho or Carpenters creepy, yet simple Casio keyboard Halloween score. I don't think a soundtrack should be judged on its complexity but rather on it's appropriateness for the material. I wouldn't change either of those two Williams notes, they're perfect.
Yeah, you're right.
I'm not a hater; I just have to admit in the interests of full disclosure that it doesn't quite do it for me the way it does for everyone else. I appreciate it, but I don't feel it, really. It's scary.
The novel handles the "close the beaches" stuff in a more complex, dark, cynical, detailed way...but that's the way the novel handles everything. The movie has a vastly simplified story. (Not that there's anything wrong with that: the novel's no big deal.)
Your point about the music is exactly right. I don't "actually" mind it. It's just kind of gently ironic that it's two notes like that.
I love Jaws for a number of reasons, but the first one that always occurs to me is that it's a movie shot in a New England beach town in the 70's, and as such it captures the feel of my childhood summers. I didn't live in a beach town, but we had a sailboat and pretty much went out every weekend to various places just like that. So I see those docks boats and kids' bathing suits and it takes me back.
Dovetailing with that was one of Speilberg's style quirks at the time, to shoot scenes with multiple conversations going on (usually to establish the goofy chaotic family life of his main characters, see Close Encounters for more). I've always suspected he was aiming for a Robert Altman vibe with that, although he never reached the bitchy place that Altman got to (I'm not an Altman fan, but that's another rant). Anyway, those scrambly depictions of crazy family life also match the feel of childhood -- not mine, in particular, but mixed with the New England thing I mentioned earlier it kind of feels that way.
As for the beach closing question, the first death is ruled a boating accident and then there's a big shark caught after the second death, right? That's always been enough explanation for me. If you were to rank horror movie tomfoolery that existed to keep the plot going, I doubt that would even make the top 100.
Yeah, that's exactly the stuff I don't like. The Altman effects (and you know I'm right there with you on your Altman rant) combined with Dreyfus' antics, the singing on the boat and scenes like the one where Chief Brody and his kid make faces at each other at home all contribute to the movie's odd tone (which has nothing to do with any subsequent Spielberg). The adults aren't really acting like adults or confronting the gravitas of what's happening. I mean, they are -- the story propels them into eventually killing the shark -- but the whole dramatic tone is thrown off by the weird Altman effects, which make you feel like you're eavesdropping on a strangers' party. Why can't they all stop muttering over each other and screwing around? There's a fucking great white shark to deal with.
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